Student loan borrowers are facing a brutal new era, as the Trump administration begins to garnish the wages of people in default, and millions who were part of a Biden-era repayment program are hit with interest payments once more. The slow-motion crisis is only getting worse, but there are ways for employers to step in and help workers who are feeling the pinch.
There are several benefits that companies can offer employees struggling under unwieldy debt burdens, including matching student loan contributions to retirement plans, PTO exchanges, financial planning counseling, and education assistance programs.
But half the battle for business leaders is convincing their company’s top brass that they should even offer these benefits in the first place. Only 9% of organizations offered student loan benefits in 2024, according to SHRM’s employee benefits survey. While that’s an increase from 7% in 2022, the vast majority of businesses still don’t offer any kind of assistance to employees.
Fortune spoke with several student loan benefit experts about how to make the case for offering the perks that are still rare, but increasingly relevant.
“It’s been an evolution and the recognition that student loans are here to stay, and, quite frankly, that the student loan debt crisis is real,” says says Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance for EdAssist by Bright Horizons, which offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment benefit plans. “Employers are starting to recognize that it is a necessary benefit, and no longer a nice to have.”
Cultivating loyalty
Garnishing wages has a huge impact on personal finances, and can dramatically affect a borrower’s credit score. That can further impact someone’s ability to get a car or home loan.
“It’s like an economic earthquake ripping through those who are part of our workforce that have pursued the degree to get the job in the first place,” says Laurel Taylor, CEO of Candidly, a financial wellness company. She adds it’s not just an issue only for young people or new graduates, but includes people in their 30, 40s, 50s and beyond.
Employers who acknowledge the stress that employees are under, and show up with benefits to try and address those problems, have the opportunity to cultivate a feeling of appreciation among workers.
“This is a chance to demonstrate, from an employer’s perspective, empathy. To build loyalty and differentiate that employer brand in a very fiercely competitive talent market.”
Student loan benefits as recruitment and retention boosters
Many companies that choose to offer student loan assistance do so as an incentive to keep employees around, and discussing the benefit in terms of ROI can help employers make the business case for that kind of perk.
Employees with more debt are more likely to job hop—around 61% of employees without debt were willing to stay with their current employer compared to 39% of borrowers, according to a report from MissionSquare Research. Taylor says her clients that offer those benefits reduce turnover by an average of 33% to 58%, while employers that traditionally have higher levels of turnover, like hospitals, can see turnover reduction of 76%.
Offering student loan benefits can also help a company stand out when it comes to recruiting new employees. Businesses shouldn’t be afraid to tout their offerings, especially in job ads or during candidate interviews, notes Ted Kane, a partner at insurance brokerage firm Brown & Brown.
“If I’m choosing between employer A and employee B, and I’m going to get a student loan repayment, I’m going to employer A, unless there’s a big difference in salary,” he says.
Focus on programs that don’t cost extra
One of the main criticisms of offering student loan benefits is that they’re not cheap. But there are many options out there for business owners that won’t actually cost them extra money.
Under the Secure 2.0 Act, passed in 2022, companies can take the funds they would have used to match employee retirement contributions and instead use them to help them pay off student loans. PTO exchange programs also allow employees to take any unused time off and convert it into cash for loan payments. Finally, employers can offer to turn a sign-on bonus into a monthly student loan contribution over a number of years, according to MacPhetres. These kinds of programs tend to be an easier sell for leadership, because the money is already budgeted.
The new normal
While student loan benefits are still offered by a minority of companies, experts say they’re gaining steam.
“It used to be that companies would give access to refinancing, maybe as part of a voluntary benefit platform. But now they’re looking to actually repay the loans,” says Kane, who estimates around half of employers he comes into contact with are at least thinking about these perks.
When wage garnishment begins, companies will be confronted more directly with the severity of their workers’ financial situations, says MacPhetres. Student loan benefits today are where retirement savings accounts were in the 1980s, she adds. Something that’s nice to have now, but will one day turn into absolute must.
“This is something that comes up in every conversation with employees as they’re navigating their futures, and I think employers are starting to take notice.”
The local authorities said that at least two people were killed and 16 others wounded during the aerial assault, which also sparked fires in a half-dozen neighborhoods.
Kobaltestimates that more than $1 billion in publishing royalties are left uncollected every year.
This issue often disproportionately affects emerging artists and songwriters, whose careers may be taking off but who may not yet have the industry knowledge or team necessary to register their songs properly.
As anyone who has worked with early-stage artists and songwriters knows, this is a crucial phase of their career. Not being able to access royalty payments risks permanently stifling their trajectory, preventing them from investing in themselves right when they need it the most.
Kobalt hopes to change all this with its new invite and application-onlypublishing platform, KOSIGN.
Launched in February, KOSIGN was built to help emerging artists, producers, and songwriters claim their share of the uncollected publishing royalty pool.
Aiming to bridge the gap between traditional publishers and DIY publishing administrators, KOSIGN offers what Kobalt claims to be a “frictionless alternative to traditional publishing deals”.
According to the KOSIGN website, contracts run on a rolling term with an 80/20 split in the member’s favor on royalties collected. Songwriters keep 100% of their copyrights.
Jason Feinberg, Senior Vice President and Head of KOSIGN, tells MBW that the platform has already seen “thousands of applicants” from 88 countries.
“We’ve been thrilled with the interest, feedback, number of applications, and how quickly the word is spreading,” he says. “Although a selective application process means we don’t accept everyone, an impressive array of artists have been brought into the fold.
“We’ve already registered over 12,000 songs in the first few months, and the caliber of talent has exceeded our initial expectations.”
The platform is built on Kobalt’s existing infrastructure, using the same royalty collection system “trusted” by Kobalt’s superstar client base (The company serves over 700,000songs from a roster of songwriters that includes Max Martin, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Childish Gambino, Karol G, Bon Iver, and more.). Feinberg says that “the product is already time-tested and best-in-class.”
KOSIGN uses Kobalt’s “industry-leading technology” to identify song plays, streams, and views. It also licenses music publishing rights directly with streaming services, and claims to speed up royalty collections to “typically within three months, not the usual year or more”.
“I see KOSIGN as defining an entirely new marketplace category.”
Jason Feinberg
Feinberg has spent his career working at the intersection of artist development and technology, having previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Universal Music Group and Head of Artist Marketing at Pandora‘s AMP platform.
He tells us that Kobalt’s new platform “occupies a rare and exciting space: a promising new business inside an industry leader”.
Feinberg adds: “I see KOSIGN as defining an entirely new marketplace category. The product is already time-tested and best-in-class. The team are experts and thought leaders. I don’t need to worry about the foundation. That frees us all up to do two fundamental things: innovate and scale.”
Here, five months after KOSIGN’s launch, Feinberg discusses the product’s rollout, uptake, and roadmap…
Have you noticed any patterns in the types of artists applying – are they primarily DIY acts for example, or are you also seeing interest from songwriters or producers who are already working with publishers but want more control?
We’re seeing applications across the entire spectrum.
KOSIGN is a perfect home for a DIY artist who is gaining momentum and needs to ensure all songwriting royalties are collected accurately. This early phase is so critical for their growth; with our speed and deal structure these artists are able to reinvest in themselves and capitalize on their trajectory.
We’re also onboarding writers further along in their career who demand the best publishing admin on the market, but with extreme flexibility. Many have their own creative infrastructure or have built an enterprise outside the traditional industry channels and simply need comprehensive global collections made easy.
Have you noticed any patterns in terms of the geographic location of artists, songwriters or producers applying?
Although we are open to and are already working with artists worldwide, we’re seeing the majority of applications coming from the US, UK, Australia, and other English-language markets. We’re also seeing a growing number of artists coming in from Japan, South Korea, India, and Spanish-language markets in Mexico and LATAM.
What’s been the most common feedback from KOSIGN members so far?
The most common feedback we’re getting is that the power of the Kobalt toolset (our award-winning dashboard and tech, benefiting from direct deals, access to amra, etc) combined with the most flexible deal terms in the market is a formidable offering. KOSIGN has no retention period, and that allows writers to move around freely if their needs change. Some platforms have sufficient collection tech; others have somewhat flexible terms. But nobody can offer the combination we can, and our clients clearly see that value.
“Clients also place value in the fact that when they sign up for KOSIGN, they are in Kobalt’s ecosystem.”
Clients also place value in the fact that when they sign up for KOSIGN, they are in Kobalt’s ecosystem. As their career grows, should a formal publishing deal materialize with Kobalt, the lack of interruption to revenue collection and the connectivity to some of the industry’s leading publishing, sync, and creative experts is quite compelling.
What about industry feedback; what’s been the reaction from artist managers and other industry professionals?
Given the multitude of business types that have a share in publishing royalties, we’re finding that managers, publishers and other industry partners appreciate that we can plug into nearly any business model they utilize.
We are quick to onboard, provide deep detail of collections, have a world-class bench of publishing experts across the entire Kobalt organization, and are nimble enough to embrace client feedback and quickly evolve the product. We’ve learned many things from our industry partners since launch, and are iterating accordingly.
Have there been any unexpected challenges or success stories that have shaped how you’re developing the platform?
Every single day. We exist in an industry that has diverse business models, tremendous complexity, and somehow moves lightning fast and glacially slow simultaneously.
We’ve seen so much in such a short time – helping artists collect back-claims they would have missed, educating artists on PROs and other registrations, being there when a big sync hits and ensuring every dollar owed is making its way to the writers…
“We exist in an industry that has diverse business models, tremendous complexity, and somehow moves lightning fast and glacially slow simultaneously.”
But it isn’t without challenges. Our business is built on information, and when it isn’t available – or wrong – the entire process slows down. When you deal with clients across multiple scales and levels of business complexity, it’s impossible to have a one-size-fits-all platform.
Fortunately, KOSIGN admin is Kobalt admin. The institutional knowledge and product sophistication allows for a problem solving process that is time-tested and can iterate quickly.
Five months in, how is KOSIGN differentiating itself from other publishing admin services in the market? What’s your biggest competitive advantage proving to be?
Simply put: The best-in-class publishing registration and admin tools that have been developed and used inside Kobalt for some of the biggest songwriters in the world are now available to an entirely new cohort of artists.
“Granting a wider set of artists access to a premium platform, without the commitment of a formal publishing deal, is unheard of in our industry.”
Granting such premium platform access to a wider set of artists, without the commitments of a formal publishing deal, is unheard of in our space – and a tremendous competitive advantage for KOSIGN.
The 80/20 split in favor of artists is competitive – how sustainable is this model as you scale, and are there plans to adjust terms based on volume or artist tier?
We agree that our pricing is competitive – especially when you factor in what makes KOSIGN a premium product in the space, such as efficiencies created by Kobalt’s deals, access to AMRA, a comprehensive dashboard, and other structural benefits.
A fair, flat rate also keeps things incredibly simple, ensuring the platform stays efficient and scales. Straightforward terms help make that possible.
That said, we know that in some cases – based on volume, structure, or the nature of the partnership – it might make sense to explore a different setup. We’re open to those conversations when the situation calls for it.
Looking ahead, what are your biggest priorities for KOSIGN’s development? Are there new features, territories, or services you’re planning to roll out?
As we open up Kobalt’s core to a new tier of artists, additional use cases are becoming clear. The nuances of how KOSIGN clients run their operations require additional features or approaches. Artists with different team structures (or no team at all) need different levels of insight and access while keeping things streamlined. Innovating on the client experience while maintaining comprehensive, transparent collections is the primary mission.
Scale will come from many places. I’m excited to continue to talk to potential partners across multiple industry sectors and territories. We’re already getting interest from many directions and it’s an area of particular focus for me.
Jason, you were recently appointed Senior Vice President and Head of KOSIGN, what was at the top of your to-do list coming into the role?
From day one I had a clear mission: Quickly increase KOSIGN’s velocity while learning enough about our clients and company to develop a long term growth plan. And it had to be done in a way that upheld Kobalt’s culture and commitment to our songwriters.
As a business leader – especially at a startup – you have to balance many things at once. Quickly solidifying revenue generation strategy is critical, but premature decisions can sacrifice future scale for short-term wins. Building operational excellence is mandatory; our commitment to our clients requires meticulous attention to detail and I hold myself to that standard too. I hit the ground running on these key areas, while simultaneously making my way around the company listening to each team’s perspectives on KOSIGN.
I also quickly focused on culture and team cohesion. Effective communication, openness to feedback, rigor in hiring, respectful candor, and a “best idea wins” mentality are almost as critical as a sound business plan. Fortunately I came into a company that practices all of that regularly, so I simply needed to add my own approach to the mix.
What are your long term ambitions/projections for the platform’s positioning in the market?
When you take the power and value Kobalt provides, maintain the transparency that the company pioneered, offer fair and flexible terms, and package that up for an entirely new cohort of artists, you get something that simply doesn’t exist in the market today.
The positive impact we can make for artists, producers, writers, and the industry at large is wildly inspiring. I’m incredibly lucky to lead it.Music Business Worldwide
Four sailors from Eternity C dead, 10 found alive, 11 still missing – six believed to be in Houthi hands.
Houthi rebels in Yemen attempted to strike Israel’s Ben Gurion airport after sinking two vessels in the Red Sea this week, as the group ramps up its military pressure in support of Palestinians under Israeli fire in its bid to bring the war in Gaza to an end.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Thursday that the group had carried out a “qualitative military operation” with a ballistic missile after the Israeli military reported the strike had been intercepted.
Meanwhile, maritime security sources told the Reuters news agency that the Houthis were holding six crew members from the Greek-operated, Liberia-flagged Eternity C vessel, which the rebel group attacked on Monday, killing at least four sailors.
A total of 25 people were on board the Eternity C, according to Aspides, the European Union’s naval task force patrolling the Red Sea. Ten crew members were reportedly pulled out of the sea alive after the vessel sank on Tuesday, while 11 are still missing – with six believed to be in Houthi hands.
Saree said on Wednesday that the Houthis had “moved to rescue a number of the ship’s crew, provide them with medical care and transport them to a safe location”.
The United States embassy in Yemen countered that on X, accusing the rebels of kidnapping the crew members after “killing their shipmates, sinking their ship and hampering rescue efforts”.
The attack on the Eternity C came one day after the Houthis struck and sunk the Magic Seas, reviving a campaign launched in November 2023 that has seen more than 100 ships attacked. All the crew from the Magic Seas were rescued.
After Sunday’s attack, the Houthis declared that ships owned by companies with ties to Israel were a “legitimate target” and pledged to “prevent Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas … until the aggression against Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted”.
Late on Sunday, Israel’s military attacked Yemen, bombing the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and as-Salif, as well as the Ras Qantib power plant on the coast. The Houthis had fired missiles towards Israeli territory in retaliation.
Israel said its attacks also hit a ship, the Galaxy Leader, which was seized by the Houthis in late 2023 and held in Ras Isa port.
The Houthis held 25 crew members from the Galaxy for 430 days before releasing them in January this year.
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Watch: Houthi footage shows militants blowing up the Magic Seas ship earlier this week
Six crew members have been rescued and at least three others killed after a cargo ship was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis and sank in the Red Sea, a European naval mission says.
The Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated Eternity C was carrying 25 crew when it sustained significant damage and lost all propulsion after being hit by rocket-propelled grenades fired from small boats on Monday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.
The attack continued on Tuesday and search rescue operations commenced overnight.
The Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked the Eternity C because it was heading to Israel, and that they took an unspecified number of crew to a “safe location”.
The US embassy in Yemen said the Houthis had “kidnapped many surviving crew members” and called for their immediate release.
Authorities in the Philippines said 21 of the crew were citizens. Another of them is a Russian national who was severely wounded in the attack and lost a leg.
It is the second vessel the Houthis have sunk in a week, after the group on Sunday launched missiles and drones at another Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ship, Magic Seas, which they claimed “belong[ed] to a company that violated the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine”.
Video footage released by the Houthis on Tuesday showed armed men boarding the vessel and setting off a series of explosions which caused it to sink.
All 22 crew of Magic Seas were safely rescued by a passing merchant vessel.
EPA
The Houthis released footage showing the Eternity C sinking after it was hit by rocket-propelled grenades
Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted around 70 merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
They have now sunk four ships, seized a fifth, and killed at least seven crew members.
The group has said it is acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK, which have carried out air strikes on Yemen in response.
On Wednesday the EU’s naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, said it was participating in the international response to the attack on the Eternity C and that “currently six castaway crew members have been recovered from the sea”.
An Aspides official told AFP news agency that five were Filipinos and one was Indian, and that 19 others were still missing.
The Greece-based maritime security firm Diaplous released a video on Wednesday that showed the rescue of at least five seafarers who it said had spent more then 24 hours in the water, according to Reuters news agency.
“We will continue to search for the remaining crew until the last light,” Diaplous said.
Reuters also cited maritime security firms as saying that the death toll was four.
Diaplous/Handout via Reuters
Maritime security firm Diaplous released a photo showing at least five Eternity C crew members being rescued
The US state department condemned the attacks on the Magic Seas and Eternity C, which it said “demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security”.
“The United States has been clear: we will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks, which must be condemned by all members of the international community.”
In a separate development on Thursday, Israel’s military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen. It gave no further details.
In May, the Houthis agreed a ceasefire deal with the US following seven weeks of intensified US strikes on Yemen in response to the attacks on international shipping.
However, they said the agreement did not include an end to attacks on Israel, which has conducted multiple rounds of retaliatory strikes on Yemen.
The secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) called for intensified diplomatic efforts following the new wave of attacks.
“After several months of calm, the resumption of deplorable attacks in the Red Sea constitutes a renewed violation of international law and freedom of navigation,” Arsenio Dominguez said.
“Innocent seafarers and local populations are the main victims of these attacks and the pollution they cause,” he warned.
Draft deal to end bitter decades-long conflict agreed 4 months ago, but timeline for sealing it remains uncertain.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks in the United Arab Emirates after nearly four decades of conflict.
The meeting in Abu Dhabi on Thursday between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, confirmed by both their governments, comes after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March.
The South Caucasus countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
Peace talks began after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in a lightning offensive in September 2023, prompting a huge exodus of almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians, who fled to Armenia.
But the timeline for sealing a deal remains uncertain.
Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared border surged soon after the draft deal was announced, though there have been no reported violations recently.
In a potential stumbling block to a deal, Azerbaijan has said it wants Armenia to change its constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to Azerbaijani territory.
Yerevan denies this, but Pashinyan has repeatedly stressed in recent months – most recently this week – that the South Caucasus country’s founding charter needs to be updated.
Azerbaijan also asked for a transport corridor through Armenia, linking the bulk of its territory to Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave that borders Baku’s ally, Turkiye.
Pashinyan and Aliyev’s last encounter was in May, on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania.
In June, Pashinyan made a rare visit to Istanbul to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a meeting Armenia described as a “historic” step towards regional peace.
This week, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbours.
The outbreak of hostilities between the two countries in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia, and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan.
Apple is falling behind in the AI race, and the only way it can catch up is by buying the AI startup Perplexity, according to a top analyst.
Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said it’s clear Apple is incapable of producing its own AI in-house, despite a company culture that strives to build superior products internally. In recent days, some of Apple’s top AI talent has also been poached by increasingly aggressive AI talent recruiter Meta, Bloombergreported.
Meanwhile, competitors are increasingly outdoing the company.
“Apple is at a highway rest stop on a bench watching this 4th Industrial Revolution race go by at 100 miles an hour,” wrote Ives in a Wednesday note.
Apple did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
Ives was more hopeful about Apple’s AI prospects in January, despite writing that the company was facing a “fork in the road” year on the technology. At the time, he highlighted Apple’s clearest advantage in the AI arms race: its existing base of 1.5 billion iPhones and 2.3 billion iOS devices used by people around the world.
In his Wednesday note, Ives struck a more apprehensive tone, adding Apple still retained the advantage of its widespread devices and could eventually win the AI race, but that its “window is narrowing.” Apple’s most recent WWDC, its annual event for showcasing new tech, also “was a snoozer,” Ives wrote, and barely mentioned AI.
“Apple is way too behind and does not have the AI technology to compete. The clock has struck 12, they need to acquire Perplexity or risk getting further behind,” Ives told Fortune in an email.
Even if Apple has to pay around double what it is currently worth, it should acquire Perplexity, he wrote. The San Francisco-based startup, reportedly worth $14 billion, has made strides among AI enthusiasts for citing links to articles and other information when its AI responds to queries. Perplexity on Tuesday also launched Comet, an AI-based web browser, for select subscribers, in its latest effort to compete with tech giants Google and Microsoft.
Yet, Tomasz Tunguz, the founder of Theory Ventures, which invests in early-stage enterprise AI startups, said acquiring Perplexity would come with myriad privacy considerations for Apple. The company is used to providing end-to-end encryption for products like iMessage and FaceTime, and would need to find a solution for how Perplexity would run, either locally or on a secure cloud architecture.
“They would need to have a lot of confidence they could build an architecture from end to end that had that privacy component,” Tunguz told Fortune.
Kevin Novak, founder and managing partner of early-stage AI investment firm Rackhouse Ventures, said it’s unclear whether a large acquisition would work for Apple. The company has tried to maintain the pro-building ethos of Steve Jobs for much of its history, and has been shy to acquire. Among its largest acquisitions was its $3 billion purchase of Beats electronics in 2014.
“This would be challenging for any company, but especially given Apple’s sort-of corporate ethos around perfectionism, may be especially challenging for Apple,” Novak told Fortune.
Still, Ives, for his part, said he believes Perplexity could be a natural fit for Apple and could especially help level up Siri to make it many people’s most frequent exposure to AI.
“If Apple acquires Perplexity, the combined forces of Cupertino with Perplexity would be a game changer on the AI front and rival ChatGPT given the scale and scope of Apple’s ecosystem,” wrote Ives in the note.
The evolution of architecture and construction reflects humanity’s progress over the ages, showcasing our aesthetic visions and technological advancements. Today’s architectural landscape is dominated by skyscrapers, airports, and massive stadiums. Meanwhile, the construction sector buzzes with terms like 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and exoskeletons. In this arena, a novel robotic invention promises to dramatically cut construction time by efficiently placing hundreds of blocks hourly.
Enhancing efficiency with robotics in construction
The Hadrian X, developed by an Australian firm, represents a leap in masonry technology. Its mission is to automate and optimize brick wall construction, presenting a faster and more efficient method than traditional techniques. The robot features a thirty-two-meter-long telescopic arm mounted on a truck, designed to accurately position each block. It’s equipped with an advanced vision system to determine the best brick arrangement, enabling precise placement.
This robot’s capability for task automation allows for continuous operation without breaks, significantly speeding up construction activities under any weather conditions. Notably, it can construct walls rapidly, initially tested at 300 blocks per hour, with potential speeds up to 500 blocks per hour. This innovation could significantly reduce labor needs and associated risks in the construction industry.
Instead of cement, the system employs a novel adhesive for securing blocks up to forty-five kilograms, measuring 600 x 400 x 300 mm. Consequently, it can erect up to seventy square meters of wall per hour and build up to three stories high without ladders or scaffolding, also minimizing material wastage.
Unlike technologies still under development, this robot has moved beyond the prototype stage, with its inception in 2015 leading to real-world demonstrations by 2023 for commercial purposes. The company anticipates the release of second and third-generation models soon.
How does the masonry robot work?
This innovation begins with digital CAD drawings outlining the building’s structure. An operator then uses a tablet to direct the robotic arm to the starting point of construction.
While robotics in construction is advancing, human oversight remains necessary. Besides the operator guiding and monitoring the robot for safety, additional personnel are required for loading blocks onto the truck. Other robotic systems then organize these blocks and, if needed, cut them to size. Before placement, blocks are coated with the special adhesive, which sets within forty-five minutes.
However, tasks such as installing wiring, roofing, plumbing, and ventilation systems still require human hands. Thus, while these robots are invaluable aids, their full potential in large-scale and complex constructions is yet to be realized.
Looking ahead, the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning is expected to further enhance these robots’ capabilities, making construction more efficient and sustainable.
If you want to learn about other applications of robotics in construction, as well as the use of new materials, we recommend you take a look at this article on the use of 3D printing to manufacture unique pieces of furniture.
